(Arnold Wolfcaste) wrote:

Stewart's plane supposedly had a slow leak due to poor maintainance.
The crew and passengers passed out due to lack of oxygen.

http://www.cnn.com/2000/LAW/10/26/stewart.crash.sp/

Keyword: "supposedly." And what was the final outcome of the Stewart
families lawsuit against SunJet Aviation?

I know someone who has worked on military jets, small exec jets like
lears and high end modern sorts cars. He said modern sports cars like
Porsches are light years ahead of Lears and other exec jets in
technology.

Your friend is wrong. Recall Porsche's failed attempt to build a
successful reciprocating aviation engine back in the late 80's.
Yeah, it was a giant leap forward in technology alright -- and
it crashed and burned with a resounding THUD.

The Porsche engine was a dismal failure because it offered an
increase in weight but a decrease in performance. Not only that, the
Porsche engine cost more and burned more gas than a Continental
or Lycoming aircraft engine.

In other words, what your mechanic friend doesn't seem to understand
is that unlike car drivers, airplane drivers couldn't care less about
how flashy or modern a piece of technology is. What we care about is
how well it does its job. The so-called "high-tech" Porsche engine
was just another seemingly good idea to introduce "high-tech"
automotive technology into aviation only to collide with the need for
stark simplicity in aircraft development.

Now, where you CAN see useful advances in aircraft technology that
the automobile world drools over is in avionics. For example, Chelton
Flight Systems has received FAA approval for its "Highway in the Sky"
aircraft navigation pictoral. NASA has been able to teach non-pilots
to navigate an airplane in only a few hours using this new technology.
The Chelton Heads Up Display (HUD) symbology used in the FlightLogic
system for General Aviation aircraft rivals that of even the most
sophisticated jet fighters.

He left commercial aviation because companies would cut corners on
maintaining the exec jets. This is why Payne Stewart died.

As an former commercial, single-pilot IFR guy I'm thoroughly familiar
with how charter outfits and flight training schools routinely cut
corners on maintenance. However, I haven't seen any definitive proof
that this is the reason Payne Stewart died.

--
Mike Marron
CFII, Commercial, Multi-Engine, Instrument, A&P